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24th July 2011

U20 team finish with florish with victory in final league fixture of NJL!!

Reading Ac's U20 men and women signed off their league campaign of the Brent Division of the National Junior league, with a much deserved victory in their final league fixture at Hemel Hempstead. U20 men's captain, Ryan Bonifas, also had the added bonus of winning the male athlete of the match award for his fine effort of 1.98m in winning the high jump event.

Male Report
The men's side rallied well and had a busy but successful day in their events, securing 10 victories through-out the day. U20 captain, Ryan Bonifas had a very busy day covering 5 events, as well as his athlete of the match winning effort in the high jump, Ryan also gained 2ndB in the long jump, as well as 4th in the a-strings of the triple jump and javelin event, before later helping the 4x100 team to 6th. Allan Stewart displayed a good deal of fitness, competing in 5 events also. He took victory in the a-string 1500m, as well as the b-string steeplechase and also for good measures he gained 2ndA in the 800m and 4thB in the 400m. David Lewis gained 2 vital victories through the day, comfortably winning both the 3000m and 2000m s/c events, fellow U20 distance runner, Jack Gregory also ran well winning the 3000m b-string as well as taking 2ndB in the 1500m. Dan Brock placed 2nd in the b-string 800m and scored good points in the 400m event. Scott Davies was another athlete doing well in multiple events. He gained victories in the pole vault event and b-string javelin, 3rdA and 4thA in the 400mh and 110mh races respectively. Ben Pearson competed admirably in the 2 sprint events and also leapt well for 4th in the long jump event. Tom Plank enjoyed a fine high jump competition with a 1.80m leap to win the b-string, as well as producing a solid effort in the 100m b-string. Chris George and Alec Thomas covered the throws events well to good effect, In the opening event the hammer, Alec took 4thA with Chris 3rdB. The shot putt proved their best event, Alec gaining a solid 3rdA, whilst Chris threw very well to gain a victory in the b-string, whilst in the discus, Chris placed 5th in the a-string, with Alec taking 4th in the b-string.
Female Report
The girls side also produced some strong results and they weighed in with 12 victories. The throwing squad yet again in top form. The day began with the shot and has been the case all season long, the club won both strings. Georgina Westwood threw a very solid 10.24m for victory, with Charlotte Webb throwing well to win the b-string with 9.28m. Georgina then later joined Ellie Ballantine in the javelin, with Georgina placing 3rdA, whilst Ellie threw a fine pb to win the b-string. Ellie and Charlotte had earlier thrown well in the hammer event, Charlotte placed 3rd in the a-string, Ellie gaining the runner's up spot in the b-string. The final throwing event of the day saw the same event as the first - a double Reading victory. Amy Holder continued her recent good form and threw 34.38m for victory, with Charlotte gaining another victory with a winning b-string effort. Amy Holder claimed her second victory of the day with a convincing pole vault victory with an improved 2.80m clearance. On the track, Tayla Benson ran well and clocked some good times as she took 3rd in both the a-strings of the 100m and 200m. Beki Taylor added another 400mh victory to her name, before narrowly being beaten in the 400m flat race for 2nd place, before later adding a 2ndA in the triple jump. Alyx Gregory and Emma Taylor completed a 800m double, Alyx finishing like a train and winning in 2.34.2 with Emma securing b-string victory. Cerys Aicken ran another solid 3000m race and secured herself a victory, whilst in the 1500m event, Natasha Harris-White clocked a personal best of 5.17.1 for 2ndA whilst Rosie Bishop gained victory in the b-string of that event. Rounding off the day the 4x400 team romped to victory and helped seal victory for the team.

17th July 2011

Jonny romps to Gold for England with Danni taking bronze!!

Two Reading Athletic Club members were in action this past Saturday, as they represented England at the SIAB Schools International held in Cardiff. Both Jonny Davies and Danni Opara gained selection for the England team, having won gold medals at the English Schools Championships a fortnight ago.

Jonathan Davies added the British schools championship 3000 metres title to his recent English schools title. Jonny totally dominated the race and won by over 6.5 seconds from his English rival Hobie Martin in a good time of 8.47 in blustery conditions. Jonny is yet to be seriously challenged in his age group at 3000 metres

Danni gained a bronze in the womens shot putt to add to her growing medal collection. Although the distance was a little below her winning effort at the English Schools, she still threw well and her effort of 12.27m gained the bronze medal. This was just the start of a busy week for Danni, as she recently celebrated her selection into the Great Britain team for the European Youth Olympic Festival that will be held at the end of the month in Turkey. Danni, who travels out with the team on Friday, will again compete in the shot and with it gain her first Team GB vest.

Elsewhere over the weekend, 2 of the club's leading senior athletes competed at Bedford in the England Athletics Senior Championships. Senior ladies captain, Shelley Bowen, who recently won silver in the Southern 100m event, just missed out on a final spot in the same event at Bedford, she finished 3rd in her heat in a time of 12.2. Carl Bradbury was the other Reading vest in action, he competed in the 1500m event and he performed admirably by taking 7th in the final.

17th July 2011

Valiant effort from Youngsters as they take 5th in YAL Southern Final!!

Reading Athletic Club's junior male and female athletes made the trip to Barnet on Sunday to contest the Southern Region final of the National Young Athletes League.
The southern area is well renound for it's strong competition in this league and the reality is this match was more than likely every bit as tough as what the main final will be come September.

The Stewarts of Mortimer sponsored club were searching for a top 4 spot in order to secure a spot in one of the national finals in September, however despite a really valiant effort from the entire team, they fell marginally short this time around as they finished 5th. This despite so many personal and seasons best gained from the 6 age groups.

Female Report
The girls side had a few key members missing in the older age group, but the team rallied round to cover the vacant events to their credit. U17 captain, Danni Opara provided a hat full of points, fresh back from representing England in an international schools match in Cardiff where she claimed the bronze medal. She began her day with a convincing shot putt victory, following that she moved to the hammer circle and gained a fine runners up spot. Danni completed her day with a good discus win, to celebrate her recent call up to the Great Britain team that will compete in Turkey at the European Youth Olympic Festival at the end of the month.
Elsewhere in the age group, Katherine Alexander gained a vital javelin victory, Georgina Westwood leapt 1.70m on her way to high jump victory, whilst Rachel Rajkumar gained maximum points by leaping 1.40m for the b-string. Jess Gibbon displayed good levels of fitness by taking 2nd in the 800m and 4th in the 1500m. Beki Taylor gained an impressive 2nd in the A 300mh whilst in the b string, Tayla Benson leapt to the top of the rankings in her first race at the event, by winning 48.8. Amy Holder scored 2ndA in the pole vault as well as winning the b string discus, Sian Wakerley took victory in the B pole vault. Cerys Aicken and Bethan Taylor both impressed in the 3000m event. Mollie Haines ran well for 3rdB in the 1500m whilst Emma Taylor displayed her commitment to the team, a middle distance runner by trade, she helped cover the 3 sprint races for the team and her best result came in the 300m b string where she took 2nd.
The U15 girls competed well in a high standard competition. The throwing squad again in majestic form. Katherine West and Chelsea Pritchard gaining maximum points by winning both string of the javelin. Chelsea then later won the discus event, having earlier taken 2ndA in the shot putt. Becky Keating took victory in the b string of the same event. Amy Herrington took 2ndB in the discus, having earlier won the B pole vault, with Melissa Lowe gaining 2ndA.
Freya Tubb again went over the 5m mark and was a deserved winner of the long jump. Mollie Pritchard leapt a good 1.40m for 2ndB in the high jump. Katie Hannawin and Jess Gilkes more than held their own in some exceptionally tough sprint races both both scoring well.
Nicole Harkness clocked a pleasing pb of 13.0 in the sprint hurdles. Lauren Herrington ran another good 800m race for 3rdA, Alice Milsom also going well in the b-string. Georgia Walton shattered her 1500m pb by some 11 seconds with a 5.06 clocking for 4thA whilst Ella Saunders clocked herself a new pb going under the 5.20 mark with 5.19.
The U13 girls were again in strong form. Katie Holt and Kate McKim both smashing their pb's in the 800m as Katie clocked 2.31 and Kate 2.35 both gaining 4th in their respective races.
Hannah Willis gained 3rd in the 1200m whilst Caitlin Stacey gained a pb in the b string, having earlier set a new best in the shot.
Amber-Leigh Hall gained a new best with victory in the b-string hurdles, having also clocked a new best in the 75m for 2nd. Rebecca Ryan performed well in the shot and 75m events, likewise, Phoebe Thomas and Madeleine Ham in the 150m event.
Daisy Wirth gained a good 2ndA in the sprint hurdles and leapt well in the long jump. Abi Taylor and Beth Thomas both went well in the high jump and scored some very strong points for the team.

11th July 2011

Strong finish to veteran's league at Abingdon as Andrea and Julie set new club records!!

Reading A.C. veterans contested their final league match of the 2011 season last Monday evening at Tilsley Park, Abingdon. Conditions were perfect for competing, and this was reflected in some good performances, with Club records broken and personal best performances set.

Andrea Gaynor broke the Club record for the O35 200m for the second time this season, running 29.5s to win the A-string event. An equally impressive performance saw Jenny O’Connor win the B-string race in her first competition for the Club, while Sue Lowry made a welcome return from injury to take 4^th in the O50 race. The Club also had double victories in the ladies discus, where Julie Wilson extended the O40 Club record to 34.70m, and Stella Bacon won the O60 event. Bacon went on to win the O50 shot putt, with Wilson 2^nd in her age category. The Club’s other win of the match came from Justin Plank with an impressive throw in the O35 javelin. He also performed well in the 200m (4^th), triple jump (2^nd) and discus (5^th). Plank was joined in the throwing events by new member John Hallett who took 3^rd place in the O50 javelin and 4^th in the discus. The Club scored good points in the middle distance events. Sue Francis (A-string) and Andrea Curson (B-string) both finished 2^nd in the O35 800m. The mens’ 800m races were contested by Toby Laver (035, 3^rd), Andy West (O50, 5^th), and John Cullingham (O60, 3^rd). Laver and West both went on to finish 4^th in their respective categories of the men’s 3000m. In the ladies 5000m, Elaine Laver put in a gutsy performance and was rewarded with 2^nd place in her first attempt at this distance on the track. Martin High knocked 20 seconds off his best time when finishing 3^rd in the O35 2000m walk, and John Cullingham achieved the same placing in the O50 category. In the final event, the 4x200m relay, the ladies team of O’Connor, Francis, Curson and Gaynor battled hard to take 2^nd place close behind Radley. The winners of the ladies league were Radley Athletic Club, while Oxford City topped the men’s league. Reading’s ladies team and men’s team both finished 4^th.

3rd July 2011

Senior ladies place 4th in UK League match at Crawley!

Reading Athletic Club's senior ladies travelled to Crawley to contest their 2nd UK Women's League fixture of the season. The match proved much more competitive and was a much closer affair between all club's concerned, however the club enjoyed many brilliant results, with lots of personal bests gained across the range of events.
The day began in strong fashion, with the pole vault event, as Lucy Hillen leapt up to a fine 3rd in the a-string, clearing 2.50m. Sarah Bishop then scored a vital b-string victory as she equalled her personal best of 2.30m.
Reading's middle distance athletes enjoyed a fine day and secured numerous season and personal bests. Julia Henderson and Nicky Cooke tackled the 800m races, with both running season's bests. Julia showed a good turn of speed in the final straight to take 3rd, whilst Nicky showed some strong running finishing in 2.32.3. Louise Bardsley and Rachel Phillips tackled the very competitive 3000m. Both girls seemed to work well off each other and helped them clock some fast times, with only half a second seperating them. Louise finished the quicker and clocked her second fastest time of 10.19.0, which suprisingly only placed 5th in the a-string, Rachel well and truely smashed her personal best with a brilliant display to win the b-string in 10.19.7. Hayley Pearce and Sarah Wilkins were others to gain new personal bests. Hayley showed some gutsy running as she took 5thA in the 1500m, shaving 6 seconds off her best with a time of 4.53.7, whilst Sarah gained 3rdB with a new best of 5.05.5. Anna Boniface showed superb technique over the 2000m s/c and she set a new personal best of 8.27.0 for 3rdB.
The throwing events also scored some strong points and no-one was in better form than Julie Wilson who produced her best ever set of results. In the hammer she threw a new personal best of 35.43m for 4thA, with Coral Stewart returning to the team, also scoring 4th in the b-string. Julie then joined Charlotte Webb in the discus, both performing superbly, Charlotte took 3rdA with 34.77m, with Julie 2ndB, throwing 34.50m. Both then moved to the shot, where Julie threw a superb 9.62m to gain 5thA, with Charlotte taking 4th. Laura Pearce and Helen Buckley contested the javelin, with Laura gaining 5thA and Helen 3rdB.
In the sprints, Amy Bond once again produced an impressive performance and is beginning to show what an asset she is to the team in the long sprint events. She battled hard for 4thA in 60.6. Zara Bennett tackled her first ever 400m and showed she has potential for the event by taking 4thB in 62.3. Senior ladies captain, Shelley Bowen, placed 3rd in both the 2 sprint races, with times of 12.4 and 25.7 in the 100m and 200m respectively. Rachel Mason's return to the team saw her take 4thB in the 100m, whilst Zara returned to the track and placed 5th in the b-string 200m.
Meryl Austin also made a return to action after a slight injury and gained 4thA in the triple jump, with Julia Henderson taking 3rdB. Caroline Parmenter gained 3rdA in the high jump with a 1.55m clearance, whilst April Taylor and Helen Buckley both took 6th in the long jump.
Lee Fellowes and Caroline Parmenter both tackled the 400mh, Caroline started well and held her form in the end to gain 6thA, whilst Lee held her form well to gain 5th in the b-string.
The 4x100 squad rounded off the day with 5th position, whilst the 4x400 relay team produced an improved 4th, with Amy Bond running a storming opening leg, which was rounded off nicely by Rachel Phillips, Hayley Pearce and Julia Henderson.
The result leaves Reading in 3rd place in the table and leaves it well open for promotion with the final match in Leeds at the beginning of August.

3rd July 2011

Jonny, Danni and Pippa weigh in with gold at English Schools Championships!!

10 Reading Athletes were out in force, representing their Schools County this past Friday/Saturday as they competed at the Gateshead International Stadium at the English Schools Championships. From a Reading Ac point of view, it saw the best set of overall results produced by some margin!

Infact the club saw 3 of their athletes claim gold medals, as well as numerous top 8 placing's in other events.

The first 2 gold medals came on day one and they came from 2 of the club's team captains. U20 captain, Pippa Rogan, was the first to get the medal haul underway, she was up at 12.30 on Friday in the U19 girls High Jump. Pippa has been in a rich vein of form lately and she produced the performance of her life on Friday as she leapt a new personal best and with it broke her own U20 club record as she claimed the gold medal and the English Schools title with a fantastic height of 1.76m. A perfect result for Pippa as she now sets off to Lille, France, to compete in the World Youth Games, representing Ireland.

Medal number 2 came from the club's U17 captain, Danni Opara. Danni had lead the UK ranking's since mid May and by a comfortable margin, making her a huge favourite for gold, However Danni showed she can handle that kind of pressure well and produced a superb performance to win the gold by a more than clear margin, with a best throw of the day of 13.04m. The added bonus for Danielle is that her victory has earnt her selection for England in 2 weeks time at the home nation's schools competition. A well earned reward for a highly talented athlete.

The third medal came on day 2 of the Championships and came on the track. Jonny Davies is another athlete who has been in a rich vein of form lately, setting new club record marks in the 1500m and 3000m events in recent weeks. At Gateshead he tackled the 3000m race and produced one of his best ever performances running the race of his life, setting a new personal best time of 8.33.49 and with it breaking his own club record for the event as he won by a comfortable 5 second margin. With that victory, Jonny will also have the honour of representing England in the home nations competition in a fortnight's time, where he will again be looking to further add to his already impressive medal haul.

These were not to be the only impressive performances however as the remainder of Reading Ac athletes all did very well.

Infact another club record was also set in the process, as Liam MacDevitt bettered his own U17 400m club record with some fantastic running in the 400m event at Gateshead. In heat 3 on the opening day he beat his personal best and his own club record as he took 2nd with a superb time of 49.59 to advance to the semi finals on day 2. Out early for those semi final's, Liam once again dipped under the 50 second barrier with a 49.60 clocking to qualify for the final, which was shown live on Sky Sports. Liam completed a more than pleasing debut year in these championships, he finished 7th in the final with a time of 50.28.

Amy Holder more than justified her selection in the team as she finished a superb 5th in the U17 girls discus with a superb throw of 34.77m, in her first appearance at these championships. The discus event proved quite a strong one from a club point of view as Chelsea Pritchard also competed in the discus, at U15 level. Chelsea was another making her first appearance in these championships but showed some good form and competed well at that level taking a fantastic 6th position from 21 competitors with a very good throw of 31.47m.

Ben Pearson was another in debut action, he competed in the inter boys long jump. He gained a fine finishing position of 7th, with a leap of 6.21m. George Mattimoe competed for Wilshire in the U15 boys javelin and threw a huge personal best of 43.63m to also take an exceptional 7th position. Oscar Boughen was another in action, he was representing Oxfordshire in the U15 boys high jump and he leapt a very good 1.72m to finish the competition in 10th position. U17 sprinter, Lukesha Morris also took part, but luck didn't go her way as a reoccurence of a recent hamstring injury prevented her from progressing from the 100m heats, we do however wish her a speedy recovery.